The Results of the Arbitration of the “Trustees”

Published:Sotsial-Demokrat, No. 25, December 8 (21), 1911.

      Published according to theSotsial-Demokrattext.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,[1974],

      Moscow,Volume 17,

      pages365-367.Translated:Dora CoxTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2004).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

Atthe Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee in
January 1910, the representatives of the Bolshevik faction (recognised as
the representatives of that faction by all participants in the Meeting)
concluded, as is well known, an agreement with all the other factions of
our Party. This agreement was published in No. 11 of the Central Organ, and
its purport was that the Bolsheviks agreed to dissolve their faction and
transfer its property to the Central Commit tee,on conditionthat
all the other factions did the same and followed the Party line, that is to
say, an anti-liquidationist and anti-otzovist line. The agreement, which
was endorsed by the Central Committee, definitely provided that in the
event of violation of these conditions the funds were to be returned to the
Bolsheviks (see the resolution, published in No. 11 of the Central Organ).

Thegenerally known facts of the violation of that agreement by the
other factions compelled the Bolsheviks, a year ago, on December 5, 1910,
to file an application, i.e., to declare that the agreement was null and
void, and to demand the return of their funds.

Thisdemand had to be submitted to the “trustees”—Kautsky, Mehring,
and Zetkin—for arbitration. The court of arbitration ruled that,
provisionally, up to November 1, 1911, part of the funds were to be turned
over for account able expenditure to the Technical Commission and the
Organising Commission Abroad composed of representatives of the Bolsheviks,
conciliators, and the Poles.

InOctober 1911, two of the arbitrators, Mehring and Kautsky, resigned
their posts. After this the third arbitratorhad not the right to exercise authority alone, and after some hesitation
also resigned.

Thusit turned out that after November 2, 1911, the Bolshevik faction,
which had, on December 5, 1910, annulled the agreement with the other
factions, was no longer bound by any contractual relations with the former
trustees. Therefore it took possession of its printing-plant and is now
taking possession of its other property.

Naturally,having freed itself from the “ties” with the
liquidationist, otzovist, and simply intrigue-mongering groups abroad, the
Bolshevik faction will devote all its energy, as has already been proved by
the efforts of its members in forming the Russian Organising Commission, to
rallying all the pro-Party elements around the Russian Organising
Commission and the general Party conference which it is convening.

Therepresentatives of the Bolshevik faction, who concluded the
agreement at the Plenary Meeting in

January 1910.[1]

P.S.The above statement had already been submitted to the Editorial
Board of the Central Organ, when we read the leaflet of the so-called
Central Committee Bureau Abroad containing a letter from two of the former
arbitrators, dated November 18, 1911. Whom are Igorev and Lieber trying to
deceive by posing as the Central Committee Bureau Abroad, when the Letts
andevenTyszka have resigned from it? Why are they silent about
this resignation? Why do they say nothing about the fact that by November
18, two and a half weeks had elapsed since the court of arbitration had
ceased to exist, and that therefore the letter of November 18, 1911, has no
significance whatever, nor can it have any?  Or, are we, perhaps, to
conclude thatpriorto November 1, 1911, Igorev and Martov didnotrecognise the court of arbitration? Then say so, gentlemen,
and prove it! Perhaps you recognise the court of arbitrationafterNovember 1, 1911? Prior to November 1, 1911,you stood condemnedby the universally recognised court of arbitration; for, despite all your
entreaties, demands, and “protests”, it refused to give a centime to
either you or Trotsky. Now the gentlemen who were condemned by the
legitimate, universally recognised court of arbitration, are tryingto shelter behind the private opinion of former members of the court which
is no longer binding on anyone. Since theFirstof November, 1911,
no court of arbitration has existed, and in this respect we have all gone
back to the situation which existed prior to the Plenary Meeting. If the
former trustees now attempted to hold up the Bolshevik funds, that would be
an unlawful act.

Butthe point is that all that Igorev and Lieber are after is to create
a “sensation”; they are afraid, however, to set forth the history of the
arbitration on the basis of exact documents. Unless you cheat you won’t
sell—that is their motto.

[1]Thesignatures of Lenin and others follow.